CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Over 100 residents of Cascade Township attended an informational meeting at their local library on Tuesday night. This was held after PFAS contaminants were detected in water wells in Cascade.
A representative of Lacks Enterprises—the company that is being held responsible for the contamination of the water—outlined their plan to ensure solutions for those affected by the chemicals.
The former Lacks site is located at 1601 Galbraith Ave. The site was home to metal plating manufacturing until 1984, then the site was used to produce plastic parts from 1980-1997. There is no manufacturing at that location now, but it has had contamination issues in the past.
Members of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services as well as the DEQ were on hand to answer questions about how they are testing the water and what they are doing to determine the extent of the contamination.
"Right now we're looking at 22 wells in the initial, what we call the phase one response and investigation area," said Al Taylor, the DEQ Hazardous Waste Program Manager. "As we get additional information and sample additional ground water monitoring wells, our phase one area could expand. It's just, it's going to be data driven and it's moving pretty rapidly right now."
People attending the meeting also asked questions about the PFAS contamination. Most of the questions dealt with people living on the fringe areas of initial concern.
As the testing continues, officials will focus on sites with the highest concentrations and work out from there. So far, the highest value observed was more than three times higher than the EPA's safe-drinking limit of 70 parts per trillion. The samples taken in Cascade were at 270 ppt.
PFAS is an emerging contaminant, and it has been found in water supplies across the state. You can see all of 13 ON YOUR SIDE's coverage of the water worries in West Michigan here.
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